FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a network system
composed of a host computer and terminals connected to
the host computer via communication lines, such as
telephone lines and radio signals, and more particularly,
to an e-mail sending/receiving system and an e-mail
sending/receiving method for allowing the host computer
and terminals to send/receive e-mails mutually, and to a
recording medium having thereon recorded the above
method.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A system, in which tomorrow's morning papers are
downloaded from a host computer to a terminal at a set
time (in the night), so that the user can read the
morning papers when he gets up, is conventionally
available as an example network system composed of the
host computer and terminals connected to the host
computer via communication lines, such as telephone lines
and radio signals. According to this system, the user
can receive the data he wishes to see from the host
computer automatically at night by avoiding the use in a
daytime when the communication lines are much busier.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No.
139747/1996 (Tokukaihei No. 8-139747) discloses an e-mail
receiving system furnished with selection means for
classifying received mails in accordance with keywords
ranked according to importance and for selecting received
mails in accordance with the keyword indexes. According
to this system, urgent or important mails are selected
with precedence to enable the user to check the contents
thereof at his earliest convenience.
However, in any of the above systems, a relation
between a memory capacity of each terminal and a total
volume of mails (a total volume of coming mails) from the
host computer is not concerned particularly. Thus, when
the latter is greater than the former, for example, the
terminal can not receive all the mails from the host
computer, and the user may not be able to receive urgent
or important mails.
Thus, to receive urgent or important mails in a
reliable manner, the user has to manage the terminal to
always secure a memory capacity sufficient for a total
volume of the coming mails. Thus, the conventional
systems have a problem that the system management is very
troublesome.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention
to provide an e-mail sending/receiving system and an e-mail
sending/receiving method which enables the user of
a terminal to receive urgent or important mails in a
secure manner without managing an available memory
capacity of the terminal even when a total volume of the
coming mail exceeds the available memory capacity, and a
recording medium having thereon recorded the above
method.
To fulfill the above and other objects, an e-mail
sending/receiving system of the present invention is
characterized by being furnished with a terminal and a
host computer including:
a first storage section for storing a mail; a first control section for extracting mails to be
sent to the terminal in accordance with priorities
assigned to the mails.
According to the above arrangement, when the
terminal is connected to the host computer through a
communication line, the host computer extracts the mails
stored in the first storage section by means of the first
control section in accordance with the priorities
assigned to the mails, and sends the same to the
terminal.
Accordingly, of all the mails stored in the first
storage section of the host computer, the terminal stores
the mails in order of descending priorities to the user.
Thus, even when the terminal does not have an
available memory capacity sufficient to store all the
coming mails, the user can receive the mails assigned
with higher priorities only if the available memory
capacity is large enough to store these mails with higher
priorities. Consequently, the user does not have to
manage the system each time the user receives the
mail(s), thereby making the system management easier.
Moreover, the user of the terminal can read the
mails in order of descending priorities only by reading
the mails in order of storage. In other words, the user
can read the mails assigned with higher priorities to the
user, that is, urgent or important mails, with the
precedence without searching such mails from all the
received mails only by reading the mails in the terminal
in order of storage.
There can be also provided an e-mail
sending/receiving method suitably used for the above-arranged
e-mail sending/receiving system and a recording
medium having thereon recorded the method.
More specifically, to fulfill the above and other
objects, an e-mail sending/receiving method of the
present invention is characterized by being composed of:
a first step of extracting mails having been stored
in a first storage section of a host computer in
accordance with priorities assigned to the mails; and a second step of sending the mails extracted in the
first step to a terminal.
Also, to fulfill the above and other objects, a
recording medium of the present invention which can be
read by a computer is characterized by having recorded
thereon a program for letting the computer perform:
a first process of extracting mails stored in a
first storage section of a host computer in accordance
with priorities assigned to the mails; and a second process of sending the mails extracted in
the first process to a terminal.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and
advantages of the invention, reference should be made to
the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction
with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a view explaining in detail a host
computer of an e-mail sending/receiving system in
accordance with an example embodiment of the present
invention;
Figure 2 is a flowchart detailing an operation
procedure in the e-mail sending/receiving system of
Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a view explaining in detail a terminal
of the e-mail sending/receiving system in accordance with
the above example embodiment;
Figure 4 is a flowchart detailing an operation
procedure of the host computer in the e-mail
sending/receiving system of Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a flowchart detailing an operation
procedure of the terminal in the e-mail sending/receiving
system of Figure 3; and
Figure 6 is a view explaining a recording medium
used for the e-mail sending/receiving system of Figures
1 and 3.
DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
The following description will describe an example
embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in Figure 1, an e-mail sending/receiving
system of the present embodiment is composed of a host
computer 1 and a terminal 2, in which a first modem 3 of
the host computer 1 is connected to a second modem 4 of
the terminal 2 through a telephone line 5 serving as a
communication line.
In other words, in the above-arranged e-mail
sending/receiving system, the host computer 1 and
terminal 2 send/receive the data mutually through the
first modem 3 and second modem 4 via the telephone line
5.
The e-mail sending/receiving system of the present
embodiment will be explained using an e-mail
(hereinafter, referred to simply as a mail) as example
data sent/received between the host computer 1 and
terminal 2. Here, when the user writes a mail, the user
assigns the priority to the mail in accordance with the
precedence or importance of the mail.
The host computer 1 does not send all the mails
indiscriminately to the terminal 2.
To be more specific, the host computer 1 obtains an
available memory capacity of the terminal 2 when
connected to the same, and compares a total volume of the
mails to be sent to the terminal 2 with the available
memory capacity, and judges whether the terminal 2 can
store all of these mails.
When the host computer 1 judges that the former is
greater than the latter, the host computer 1 sends the
mails in order of descending priorities. When the host
computer 1 judges that the former is smaller than the
latter, the host computer 1 simply sends all the mails to
the terminal 2.
A detailed explanation of the host computer 1 will
be given in the following.
As shown in Figure 1, the host computer 1 is
furnished with a storage section (first storage section)
6 as storage means for retaining mails addressed to each
user. In the drawing, only one user is illustrated for
the explanation's convenience.
The storage section 6 is composed of a new flag
section 6a, a priority section 6b, a title section 6c, a
mail section 6d, a date section 6e, and a volume section
6f for storing mail information appended to each mail,
such as the title and date. An address is allocated to
each mail, so that the mails are managed by and retrieved
based on their respective addresses.
In the new flag section 6a, a new flag is set to
indicate whether the user has confirmed the mail or not.
More specifically, in the new flag section 6a, a value
"1" is set for a new mail which the user has not read
yet, and a value "0" is set for a mail which the user has
already read.
In the priority section 6b, the precedence found
from the priority assigned to each mail is set. More
specifically, values "1", "2", "3" and "0" are set in
order of descending priorities based on the precedence.
In Figure 1, however, the lowest priority indicated by
"0" is assigned to no mail. Note that the priority
assigned to each mail is defined by the user in advance.
In the title section 6c, the title of the mail is
stored and a brief content of the mail is stored in the
mail section 6d. In the date section 6e, the receipt
date of the mail is stored, and a value representing a
volume of the mail is stored in the volume section 6f.
The entire mail and other mail information are
stored in an unillustrated storage area of the storage
section 6.
The storage section 6 is connected to a control
device (first control means) 18 through a first gate 8,
a second gate 9, and a third gate 10. The storage
section 6 is also connected to an address section 7 that
forms the control device 18.
The control device 18 is composed of the address
section 7, a matching detecting section 11, a volume
adding section 12, a judging section 13, and a priority
generating section 15.
The address section 7 sequentially retrieves the
mails stored in the storage section 6 based on their
respective addresses, and outputs the same to the first
gate 8.
The output of the first gate 8 is connected to the
first modem 3 of the host computer 1, so that the input
mails are sent from the host computer 1 to the terminal
2 through the first modem 3 when the first gate 8 is
opened. The first gate 8 is opened based on a gate
opening command signal from either the matching detecting
section 11 or judging section 13, which will be described
below.
The input of the second gate 9 is connected to the
priority section 6b of the storage section 6, while the
output of the same is connected to the matching detecting
section 11, which will be described below. The second
gate 9 receives a new flag from the new flag section 6a
of the storage section 6 as the gate opening command
signal. In other words, the second gate 9 is opened
based on the input new flag, so that a signal (indicating
the priority of the mail) from the priority section 6b of
the storage section 6 is outputted to the matching
detecting section 11.
The input of the third gate 10 is connected to the
volume section 6f of the storage section 6, while the
output of the same is connected to the volume adding
section 12, which will be described below. The third
gate 10 receives a new flag from the new flag section 6a
of the storage section 6 as the gate opening command
signal. In other words, the third gate 10 is opened
based on the input new flag, so that a signal (indicating
a volume of the mail) from the volume section 6f of the
storage section 6 is outputted to the volume adding
section 12.
In the present embodiment, since "1" is set for a
new mail and "0" is set for the other mails in the new
flag section 6a, the second gate 9 and third gate 10 are
opened upon receipt of a new flag exhibiting "1" only.
The volume adding section 12 adds up volumes of the
new mails inputted through the third gate 10 each time
all the mails are retrieved, and outputs the addition
result of the volume values to the judging section 13
which is connected to the output of the volume adding
section 12. Here, the addition result can be a total
volume of all the new mails to be sent to the terminal 2.
The judging section 13 is connected to a capacity
buffer 14 which stores an available memory capacity of
the terminal 2, and it compares the available memory
capacity of the terminal 2 with the addition result from
the volume adding section 12, which is effect a total
volume of the mails to be sent to the terminal 2.
The judgment result of the judging section 13 is
outputted to both the first gate 8 and priority
generating section 15. More specifically, when the
available memory capacity of the terminal 2 is greater
than the addition result, the judging section 13 outputs
the gate opening command signal to the first gate 8;
otherwise the judging section 13 outputs a signal to the
priority generating section 15.
The priority generating section 15 generates the
priorities based on the signal from the judging section
13, so that the mails are sent in order of descending
priorities, and outputs the priority information to the
matching detecting section 11. For example, in the
example case of Figure 1, a value "1" is outputted first
followed by values "2", "3", and "0".
The matching detecting section 11 outputs the gate
opening command signal to the first gate 8 only when the
priority of the mail, for which the new flag inputted
through the second gate 9 exhibits "1", matches with the
priority generated by the priority generating section 15.
More specifically, if the priority generated by the
priority generating section 15 is "1", the first gate 8
is opened to output only the mails with their priority
sections 6b of the storage sections 6 being set to "1" to
the terminal 2 through the first modem 3.
In other words, in the example case of Figure 1, the
first gate 8 is opened, so that, of all the mails stored
in the storage section 6, only the mail for which the new
flag exhibits "1" and the priority also exhibits "1",
that is, the mail titled as "URGENT!", is outputted to
the terminal 2 through the first modem 3.
When the first gate 8 is opened, the mail stored in
the storage section 6 is sent through the first modem 3
via the telephone line 5 and received by the terminal 2
through the second modem 4.
The terminal 2 is furnished with a storage section
(second storage section) 16 serving as storage means for
storing the mails sent from the host computer 1. The
storage section 16 receives and stores the mails sent
from the host computer 1 through the second modem 4.
The storage section 16 is connected to a capacity
buffer 17 for storing a balance between the memory
capacity of the storage section 16 and a total volume of
the currently stored mails as the available memory
capacity information. The capacity buffer 17 is
connected to the second modem 4, so that it sends the
stored available memory capacity information to the
capacity buffer 14 provided in the host computer 1.
Next, the operation of the above-arranged host
computer 1 when sending an unread new mail to the
terminal 2 will be explained in the following.
The address section 7 accesses the mails stored in
the storage section 6 of the host computer 1
sequentially. When the address section 7 accesses a mail
for which the new flag section 6a is set to "1", the new
flag section 6a outputs the gate opening command signal
to both the second gate 9 and third gate 10, whereby the
second gate 9 and third gate 10 are opened.
The second gate 9 receives the priorities of the
mails stored in the priority section 6b, and is opened by
the signal from the new flag section 6a only when the new
flags exhibit "1", so that only the priorities of the
mails for which the new flags are set to "1" are
outputted to the matching detecting section 11.
On the other hand, the third gate 10 receives a
volume of the mail being accessed by the address section
7 from the volume section 6f. Thus, as the third gate 10
is opened for the mail for which the new flag exhibits
"1", only a volume of the mail for which the new flag
also exhibits "1" is outputted to the volume adding
section 12.
The volume adding section 12 adds up the volumes of
the mails inputted through the third gate 10, and outputs
the addition result to the judging section 13 as a total
volume of the mails to be sent to the terminal 2.
The judging section 13 compares the content of the
capacity buffer 14 storing an available memory capacity
of the terminal 2 with a total volume (sending volume) of
the mails to be sent to the terminal 2 obtained by the
volume adding section 12. When the former is greater
than the latter, the judging section 13 outputs the gate
opening command signal directly to the first gate 8,
whereupon the first gate 8 is opened. Thus, under these
conditions, when the address section 7 accesses the mails
in the storage section 6 again, all the mails for which
the new flag sections 6a exhibit "1" are sent to the
terminal 2.
On the other hand, when the judging section 13
judges that the former is smaller than the latter, the
judging section 13 outputs a signal to the priority
generating section 15 without directly opening the first
gate 8.
The priority generating section 15 generates the
priorities to send the mails in order of descending
priorities, and outputs the resulting information to the
matching detecting section 11.
As has been explained, the matching detecting
section 11 receives the priority stored in the priority
section 6b of each mail for which the new flag is set to
"1". Then, the matching detecting section 11 judges
whether the priority of each input mail matches with the
priority generated by the priority generating section 15.
The matching detecting section 11 outputs the gate
opening command signal to the first gate 8 to open the
same only when it judges the matching of the priorities.
Thus, according to the above-arranged e-mail
sending/receiving system, the host computer 1 compares a
volume of the mails stored therein with an available
memory capacity of the terminal 2 first, and when the
former is greater than the latter, the host computer 1
sends the mails to the terminal 2 in order of descending
priorities assigned to the mails.
Next, the procedure of the sending/receiving job in
the above-arranged e-mail sending/receiving system will
be explained in detail with reference to the block
diagram of Figure 1 and the flowchart of Figure 2. Here,
radio signals, such as those used for a portable
telephone, are used as the communication line instead of
the telephone line 5 of Figure 1.
To begin with, current time information is obtained
from a clock (not shown) installed in the host computer
1 (S1).
Then, whether the read time information is a
predetermined time (e.g., 10:00 AM or 3:00 PM) or not is
judged (S2). When the read time information matches with
the predetermined time (YES), the host computer 1
establishes a connection with the terminal 2 through
radio signals, and the flow proceeds to S3.
In S3, the host computer 1 retrieves a mail stored
in the storage section 6 and judges whether its new flag
exhibits "1" or not by means of the address section 7,
based on which whether the mail is an unread new mail or
not is judged (S4).
If the mail retrieved by the address section 7 is a
new mail, the third gate 10 is opened because its new
flag is set to "1". Accordingly, a volume of the mail is
inputted to the volume adding section 12 from the volume
section 6f through the third gate 10. Subsequently, the
volume adding section 12 adds the volume of the input
mail to a sending volume as a volume of the mails to be
sent (S5).
On the other hand, when it is judged that the mail
retrieved by the address section 7 is not a new mail in
S4 (NO), the flow skips to S6.
In S6, whether all the mails stored in the storage
section 6 have been retrieved or not is judged. When not
all the mails have been retrieved (NO), the flow returns
to S3 and the remaining mails in the storage section 6
are retrieved.
On the other hand, when it is judged that all the
mails have been retrieved in S6 (YES), the host computer
1 receives an available memory capacity of the storage
section 16 of the terminal 2 from the capacity buffer 17
of the terminal 2, and stores the same in the capacity
buffer 14 (S7).
Then, the judging section 13 of the host computer 1
compares the available memory capacity of the storage
section 16 of the terminal 2 stored in the capacity
buffer 14 with the sending volume computed by the volume
adding section 12. By so doing, the judging section 13
judges whether the available memory capacity of the
storage section 16 of the terminal 2 is greater than the
sending volume of all the new mails, in other words, the
judging section 13 judges whether there is a receiving
capacity in the terminal 2 (S8).
When the judging section 13 judges that there is a
receiving memory capacity in the terminal 2 in S8 (YES),
all the mails to be sent to the terminal 2 from the host
computer 1 are judged as being storable in the terminal
2. Accordingly, the judging section 13 directly outputs
the gate opening command signal to the first gate 8, so
that the first gate 8 is opened for all the new mails.
Under these conditions, the host computer 1 retrieves a
new mail (S9) and sends the same to the terminal 2 (S10).
Then, the host computer 1 judges whether it has
retrieved and sent all the new mails to the terminal 2
(S11). When the host computer 1 judges so (YES), it ends
the job; otherwise (NO) the flow returns to S9 and the
remaining mails are retrieved.
Like in the above case, when the terminal 2 can
store all the mails to be sent from the host computer 1,
namely, all the new mails, the host computer 1 sends all
the new mails to the terminal 2.
On the other hand, when the judging section 13
judges that there is not a sufficient receiving memory
capacity in the terminal 2 in S8 (NO), the host computer
1 operates in the following manner. That is, when a
receiving capacity of the terminal 2 is short, not all
the new mails can be sent to the terminal 2 from the host
computer 1. Thus, of all the priorities assigned to the
new mails, a value indicating the top priority (indicated
by a value "1" in Figure 1) is set as an initial value in
the matching detecting section 11 (S12).
Here, the judging section 13 outputs the judgement
result to the priority generating section 15 in the form
of a signal. The priority generating section 15
generates a value indicating the top priority based on
the signal from the judging section 13, outputs the same
to the matching detecting section 11 as an initial value
used to verify the matching of the priorities. Then, the
matching detecting section 11 sets the input value from
the priority generating section 15 as a priority for
detecting the matching of the priorities (S12). In the
example case of Figure 1, a value "1" indicating the top
priority is assigned to the mails first followed by
values "2", "3", and "0". Therefore, the priority
generating section 15 generates a value "1" as the
initial priority value and sets the same to the matching
detecting section 11.
Then, the address section 7 retrieves a new mail
stored in the storage section 6 of the host computer 1
(S13).
Accordingly, the matching detecting section 11
judges whether the priority of the retrieved new mail
matches with the priority set in the priority generating
section 15 (S14). When the two priorities do not match
with each other (NO), the flow skips to S17; otherwise
(YES) the host computer 1 sends the new mail to the
terminal 2 (S15). At this point, the matching detecting
section 11 outputs the gate opening command signal to the
first gate 8, so that the first gate 8 is opened for the
above new mail.
Then, whether the mail thus sent causes an error or
not is judged (S16). In other words, whether the mail
sent in S15 causes an overflow in the storage section 16
of the terminal 2 is judged. Here, if the occurrence of
an overflow in the terminal 2 is detected (YES), the host
computer 1 judges that the mails have been sent to the
terminal 2 to a full memory capacity of the storage
section 16 and ends the job; otherwise (NO) the flow
proceeds to S17, because the host computer 1 judges that
the storage section 16 of the terminal 2 has an available
memory capacity for more mails.
In S17, whether all the mails stored in the host
computer 1 have been retrieved or not is judged. When
all the new mails have been retrieved (YES), the next
priority is set (S18). Then, the flow returns to S13,
where the sending of the new mails in accordance with the
new priority is determined. In other words, the priority
generating section 15 generates the next highest priority
to the one currently set in the matching detecting
section 11, and sets the same in the matching detecting
section 11. On the other hand, when not all the new
mails have been retrieved (NO), the flow returns to S13
and a mail having the same priority as the currently set
priority is sent.
In other words, in the example case of Figure 1,
each time the priority generating section 15 generates
the priorities, indicated by the initial value "1"
followed by values "2", "3"' and "0", processes of
retrieving a new mail, detecting the matching of the
priorities by the matching detecting section 11, and
sending of the mail are repeated.
Here, S12-S18 are the actions taken by host
computer's first internal control means and host
computer's sixth internal control means; S4 and S14 are
the actions taken by host computer's second internal
control means; and S3-S16 are the actions taken by host
computer's third internal control means.
In the above e-mail sending/receiving system, the
host computer 1 selectively sends the mails based on an
available memory capacity of the storage section 16 of
the terminal 2. However, in another example e-mail
sending/receiving system described below, an available
memory capacity of the storage section 16 is adjusted in
accordance with a volume of the mails to be sent to the
terminal 2, so that the terminal 2 can receive all the
new mails.
More specifically, in the e-mail sending/receiving
system described below, the terminal 2 does not receive
all the mails indiscriminately, but judges whether it has
a sufficient available memory capacity to receive all the
mails. When the terminal 2 judges that its available
memory capacity is smaller than a total volume of the
mails to be sent from the host computer 1, the terminal
2 saves the mails having stored in its storage area to
the host computer 1 so as to secure a memory capacity
sufficient to receive all the new mails. Then, the
terminal 2 stores the new mails sent from the host
computer 1 to an area where the saved mails had been
stored. Here, the terminal 2 creates a list of the saved
mails.
In the following, a detailed explanation of the
terminal 2 will be given.
As shown in Figure 3, the terminal 2 is furnished
with a storage section 16 serving as storage means for
retaining the mails received from the host computer 1.
The storage section 16 is composed of a protect flag
section 16a, a priority section 16b, a title section 16c,
a mail section 16d, a date section 16e, and a volume
section 16f for setting the mail information of each
mail, such as the title and date. An address is
allocated to each mail, and the mails are managed by and
retrieved based on the addresses.
In the protect flag section 16a, a protect flag for
inhibiting the mail from being saved to the host computer
1 is stored. Here, when the protect flag section 16a is
set to "1", it means that the mail is not allowed to be
saved to the host computer 1, and when the protect flag
section is set to "0", it means that the mail can be
saved to the host computer 1. In other words, "1" is set
to the protect flag section 16a for the mail to which the
prohibition of the saving is set, while "0" is set to the
protect flag section 16a for the mail to which the
prohibition of the saving is not set.
To save the mail(s) means to send back the mails
having been stored in the terminal 2 to the host computer
1 when an available memory capacity of the terminal 2 is
short, and this is done to secure a sufficient memory
capacity in the terminal 2.
In the priority section 16b, the precedence obtained
from the priorities assigned to each mail is stored. To
be more specific, values "1", "2", "3", and "0" are set
in order of descending priorities based on the
precedence. Here, "null" data are stored in the priority
section 16b for the area having stored no mail.
In the title section 16c, the title of each mail is
stored, and a special code is set at the top of the mail
to identify that the data therein represent the title.
In the mail section 16d, a brief content of the mail
is stored, and the receipt date of the mail is stored in
the date section 16e. In the volume section 16f, a value
indicating a volume of the mail is stored.
The entire mail and other mail information are
stored into an unillustrated storage area of the storage
section 16.
The storage section 16 is connected to a control
device (second control means) 38 through a first gate 28,
a second gate 29, and a third gate 30. The storage
section 16 is also connected to an address section 27
that forms the control device 38.
The control device 38 is composed of the address
section 27, a matching detecting section 31, a volume
adding section 32, a judging section 33, and a priority
generating section 35.
The address section 27 sequentially retrieves the
mails stored in the storage section 16 based on their
respective addresses, and outputs the same to the first
gate 28.
The output of the first gate 28 is connected to a
second modem 4 of the terminal 2, so that the mail is
sent to the host computer 1 from the terminal 2 when the
first gate 28 is opened. The first gate 28 is opened by
a gate opening command signal from the matching detecting
section 31, which will be described below.
The input of the second gate 29 is connected to the
priority section 16b of the storage section 16, while the
output of the same is connected to the matching detecting
section 31, which will be described below. Also, the
second gate 29 receives an inverted protect flag from the
protect flag section 16a of the storage section 16 as the
gate opening command signal. In other words, the second
gate 29 is opened based on the input protect flag, so
that a signal (indicating the priority of the mail) from
the priority section 16b of the storage section 16 is
outputted to the matching detecting section 31. More
specifically, in the present embodiment, a value "1" is
set to the protect flag section 16a of a mail which is
inhibited from being saved, and a value "0" is set to the
protect flag section 16a of a savable mail. Thus, the
second gate 29 is opened only for the savable mails.
The input of the third gate 30 is connected to the
volume section 16f of the storage section 16, while the
output of the same is connected to the volume adding
section 32, which will be described below. The third
gate 30 receives a signal from the matching detecting
section 31 as the gate opening command signal.
The volume adding section 32 adds up volume values
of the new mails inputted through the third gate 30 each
time all the mails are retrieved. The third gate 30 is
opened in response to a signal from the matching
detecting section 31, which will be described below. The
volume adding section 32 outputs the addition result of
the volume values to the judging section 33 connected to
its output. The final addition result means, of all the
mails currently stored in the terminal 2, a total volume
of the mails for which the protect flags are set to "0",
in short, a total volume of the mails which can be saved
to the host computer 1.
More specifically, of all the mails for which the
protect flags are set to "0", the volume adding section
32 outputs a total volume of the mails, to which the
matching detecting section 31 has outputted the gate
opening command signal, to the judging section 33 as the
addition result. Although it will be described in detail
below, the matching detecting section 31 is arranged in
such a manner to output the gate opening command signal
only to the mails assigned with a particular priority
each time all the mails are retrieved sequentially.
Consequently, of all the savable mails to the host
computer 1, volumes of those assigned with that
particular priority alone are added up.
Besides the volume adding section 32, the judging
section 33 is connected to a capacity buffer 17. The
capacity buffer 17 retains the information as to the
addition result from the volume adding section 12 of the
host computer 1, which is sent to the terminal 2 through
the second modem 4 and first modem 3 via the telephone
line 5. This arrangement allows the judging section 33
to receive a sending volume of the host computer 1 stored
in the capacity buffer 17.
The judging section 33 compares a volume of the
mails to be sent from the host computer 1 which is stored
in the capacity buffer 17 with the addition result of the
volume adding section 32, and outputs the comparison
result to the priority generating section 35.
More specifically, when the judging section 33
judges that a volume of the mails to be sent from the
host computer 1 is greater than the addition result of
the volume adding section 32, namely a total volume of
the saved mails, the judging section 33 outputs a signal
to the priority generating section 35. Upon receipt of
the signal, the priority generating section 35 generates
"3" as the next lowest priority to "0".
When the judging section 33 judges that a volume of
the mails to be sent from the host computer 1 is smaller
than the addition result of the volume adding section 32,
namely, a total volume of the saved mails, it is not
necessary to save the mails because a sufficient memory
capacity is secured in the terminal 2. Thus, the
terminal 2 receives the new mails from the host computer
1 and stores the same in a storage space in the storage
section 16 of the terminal 2.
The priority generating section 35 generates the
priorities, so that the mails are saved to the host
computer 1 in order of ascending priorities based on the
signal from the judging section 33, and outputs the
priority information to the matching detecting section
31. More specifically, the priority generating section
35 generates a value "0" indicating the lowest priority
followed by values "3", "2", and "1" based on the signal
from the priority generating section 35 each time all the
mails are retrieved.
The matching detecting section 31 outputs the gate
opening command signal only when the priority of a mail
for which the protect flag inputted through the second
gate 29 exhibits "0", namely a savable mail, matches with
the priority generated by the priority generating section
35. The first gate 28 and third gate 30 are opened based
on the gate opening command signal outputted from the
matching detecting section 31.
When the matching detecting section 31 outputs the
gate opening command signal and the first gate 28 is
opened, the mail being accessed by the address section 27
is sent to the host computer 1 through the second modem
4 and first modem 3 via the telephone line 5. At the
same time, the mail is inputted to a title extracting
section 36 provided in the terminal 2.
The title extracting section 36 extracts the title
of the mail sent back to the host computer 1. More
specifically, the title extracting section 36 extracts
the title by detecting the special code set at the top of
the title of each mail sent back to the host computer 1.
Then, the title extracting section 36 outputs the titles
thus extracted to a title listing section (list
information storing means) 37 connected to the title
extracting section 36.
Next, the operation of the above-arranged terminal
2 when receiving a new mail from the host computer 1 will
be explained in the following.
The address section 27 sequentially accesses the
mails stored in the storage section 16 of the terminal 2
as shown in Figure 3, and when the address section 27
accesses a mail for which the protect flag is set to "0",
the protect flag section 16a outputs a gate opening
signal to the second gate 29, whereupon the second gate
29 is opened. On the other hand, when the address
section 27 accesses a mail for which the protect flag is
set to "1", the protect flag section 16a outputs a gate
closing signal to the second gate 29, whereupon the
second gate is closed.
Here, the second gate 29 receives the priorities of
the mails from the priority section 16b. Thus, the
second gate 29 is opened based on the signal from the
protect flag section 16a. Consequently, only the
priorities assigned to the mails for which protect flags
exhibit "0" are sequentially outputted to the matching
detecting section 31.
On the other hand, the priority generating section
35 generates the priorities in ascending order and
outputs the same to the matching detecting section 31.
Note that, in the example case of Figure 3, the priority
generating section 35 initially outputs a value "0"
indicating the lowest priority, with which the matching
is detected.
The matching detecting section 31 receives the
priorities of the mails for which the protect flags
exhibit "0" from the priority section 16b, and it outputs
the gate opening command signal to both the first gate 28
and third gate 30 only when the priority of the mail
matches with the priority generated by the priority
generating section 35, whereby the first gate 28 and
third gate 30 are opened.
When the first gate 28 is opened, the mail being
accessed by the address section 27 is sent to the host
computer 1 through the second modem 4. Here, the saved
mail is erased from the storage section 16 of the
terminal 2. Thus, a storage space for the new mails can
be secured in the storage section 16 of the terminal 2 by
saving the mails having been stored therein to the host
computer 1.
The mails saved to the host computer 1 from the
terminal 2 are also inputted into the title extracting
section 36 provided somewhere between the first gate 28
and second modem 4. Here, the title of each saved mail
is extracted by detecting the special code appended at
the top thereof. The extracted titles are held in the
title listing section 37 and displayed on an
unillustrated display section or the like later. The
mail information (list information of the mails) of the
mails saved to the host computer 1 from the terminal 2 is
held in the title listing section 37 of the terminal 2 in
the above manner, whereby the user can readily confirm
which mails have been saved to the host computer 1 from
the terminal 2.
On the other hand, when the third gate 30 is opened,
a volume of the mail being accessed by the address
section 27 is outputted to the volume adding section 32.
Consequently, of all the mails for which the protect
flags exhibit "0", volumes of the mails whose priorities
match with the priority set in the matching detecting
section 31 are added up.
Thus, the volumes of the savable mails can be added
up in order of ascending priorities by sequentially
retrieving the mails while the priority set in the
matching detecting section 31 is updated in order of
ascending priorities.
To be more specific, the third gate 30 receives the
content of the volume section 16f of the mail stored in
the storage section 16 and being accessed by the address
section 27, and it is opened for the mail whose priority
is confirmed as matching with the priority set in the
matching detecting section 31. Consequently, a volume of
the mail assigned with the initial priority value of "0"
is outputted to the volume adding section 32.
The volume adding section 32 adds up the volumes of
the savable mails whose priorities exhibit "0" as the
address section 27 sequentially retrieves the mails. In
other words, the volume adding section 32 adds up the
volumes of the mails saved to the host computer 1, and
computes an available memory capacity of the storage
section 16, after which the volume adding section 32
outputs the computation result (addition result) to the
judging section 33.
The judging section 33 compares a total volume of
the new mails to be sent from the host computer 1, which
is held in the capacity buffer 17, with an available
memory capacity of the storage section 16 computed by the
volume adding section 32 of the terminal 2 by adding a
capacity of the mails saved to the host computer 1.
When the judging section 33 judges that the former
is greater than the latter, the terminal 2 starts to
retrieve the mails further by means of the address
section 27, and saves the savable mails whose priorities
exhibit "0".
After all the savable mails assigned with "0"
priority have been saved and all the mails have been
retrieved, the judging section 33 outputs a signal to the
priority generating section 35. Upon receipt of the
signal from the judging section 33, the priority
generating section 35 generates a value "3", which is the
next lowest priority to "0", and outputs the same to the
matching detecting section 31. Accordingly, the matching
detecting section 31 updates the priority used for the
matching detection to "3" from "0".
On the other hand, when the judging section 33
judges the former is smaller than the latter, it is not
necessary to save the mails. Thus, the terminal 2
receives the mails from the host computer 1 and saves the
same in a storage space of the storage section 16 thus
secured.
According to the above process, each time all the
mails are retrieved upon updating of the priority with
which the matching detection is carried out, the terminal
2 saves the savable mails to the host computer 1 in order
of ascending priorities until a capacity required to
store the mails to be sent from the host computer 1 is
secured in the storage section 16 of the terminal 2, so
that the terminal 2 can receive the new mails.
Also, since the mail information of each saved mail
is retained, the user can readily confirm which mails
have been saved to the host computer 1.
Next, the operations of the host computer 1 and
terminal 2 of the above-arranged e-mail sending/receiving
system will be explained in the following.
In the first place, the operation of the host
computer 1 will be explained with reference to the block
diagram of Figure 1 and the flowchart of Figure 4. Here,
assume that the internal arrangement of the host computer
1 used herein is identical with the internal arrangement
of the host computer l of the first example except that
the gate opening command signal is outputted to the third
gate 10 from the matching detecting section 11 as is
indicated by a signal line L2 (indicated by an alternate
long and short dash line in the drawing) instead of being
outputted from the new flag section 6a as is indicated by
a signal line L1. The third gate 10 is opened only when
the matching detecting section 11 judges that the
priority of the mail matches with the priority set in the
matching detecting section 11. Thus, of all the new
mails, the volume adding section 12 adds up the volumes
of the mails whose priorities match with the priority set
in the matching detecting section 11.
To begin with, the priorities, in accordance with
which the mails are sent to the terminal 2, are set
(S21). Assume that only the mails assigned with
priorities "1" and "2" will be sent herein.
Then, the priority generating section 15 generates
the top priority and sets the same to the matching
detecting section 11 as the priority to be compared with
the priority of the mail (S22). Here, a value "1" is set
as the top priority.
Subsequently, a mail held in the host computer 1 is
retrieved by means of the address section 7 (S23).
Then, whether the new flag of the retrieved mail
exhibit "1" or not is judged (S24). In other words,
whether the mail retrieved in S23 is a new mail or not is
judged based on the state of the new flag stored in the
new flag section 6a. More specifically, the new flag of
the retrieved mail is outputted to the second gate 9 from
the new flag section 6a of the storage section 6 as the
gate opening command signal, that is, the state of the
new flag is reflected on the state of the second gate 9.
Here, when the new flag of the retrieved mail does
not exhibit "1", that is, when the retrieved mail is not
a new mail (NO), the flow skips to S27. On the other
hand, when the new flag of the retrieved mail is set to
"1", that is, when the retrieved mail is a new mail
(YES), the flow proceeds to S25.
In S25, the matching detecting section 11 judges
whether the currently set priority matches with the
priority assigned to the new mail retrieved in S23. When
the priorities do not match with each other in S25 (NO),
the flow skips to S27; otherwise (YES) the mail is judged
as the mail to be sent to the terminal 2 and the flow
proceeds to S26.
In S26, a memory capacity required to send the mail
judged as the mail to be sent to the terminal 2 is
computed as the sending volume. More specifically,
having detecting the matching of the priorities, the
matching detecting section 11 outputs the gate opening
command signal and opens the third gate 10, whereby a
volume of the retrieved mail is inputted to the volume
adding section 12 from the volume section 6f and added
up.
Then, whether all the mails stored in the host
computer 1 have been retrieved or not is judged in S27.
Here, when not all the mails have been retrieved (NO),
the flow returns to S23 to retrieve the remaining mails.
When all the mails have been retrieved (YES), it means
that, of all the new mails, a total volume of the mails
assigned with the set priority (herein, "1" ) is
computed.
Subsequently, whether a total volume of the new
mails to be sent to the terminal 2 for all the priorities
set in S21 is computed or not is judged (S28). In other
words, whether the priority currently set in the matching
detecting section 11 has reached the lowest priority set
in S21 is judged.
When it is judged that not all the priorities have
been processed yet (NO), the flow skips to S30. More
specifically, since "1" and "2" are set in S21 as the
priorities assigned to the mails to be sent to the
terminal 2, if the priority currently set in the matching
detecting section 11 is "1", it is judged that not all
the priorities have been processed, because there is the
next highest priority "2".
In S30, the next priority is set in the matching
detecting section 11. In other words, of all the
priorities set in S21 as the priorities assigned to the
mails to be sent, the priority generating section 15
generates the next highest priority to the currently set
priority, whereby the matching detecting section 11
updates the priority set therein with the newly generated
priority, with which the matching detection is carried
out. Here, a value "2" is set in the matching detecting
section 11 as the updated priority. Then, the flow
returns to S23, and a mail is retrieved again.
On the other hand, when it is judged that all the
set priorities have been processed (YES), the flow
proceeds to S29. More specifically, since values "1"
and "2" are set in S21 as the priorities assigned to the
mails to be sent to the terminal 2, if the priority
currently set in the matching detecting section 11 is
"2", it is judged that all the priories have been
processed, because there is no next highest priority.
In S29, a volume is sent. In other words, a total
volume obtained by adding up the volumes of all the new
mails to be sent to the terminal 2 from the host computer
1 by the volume adding section 12 is sent to the terminal
2.
Here, S24 and S25 are the actions taken by host
computer's second internal control means and S21-S30 are
the actions taken by host computer's sixth internal
control means.
In the above operation, each judgment is carried out
for each priority and the volumes of the mails are added
up. However, if it is arranged to judge a plurality of
priorities in S25, then S27 and S28 can be omitted,
thereby simplifying the operation. In short, since all
the priorities assigned to the mails to be sent to the
terminal 2 can be judged in S25, the procedure can be
simplified.
Next, the operation of the terminal 2 will be
explained with reference to the block diagram of Figure
3 and the flowchart of Figure 5. Here, assume that the
terminal 2 does not have a sufficient available memory
capacity for the coming mails.
To begin with, the terminal 2 receives a total
volume of the mails to be sent from the host computer 1
(S41). More specifically, the sending volume computed by
the volume adding section 12 of the host computer 1 and
sent from the host computer 1 in S29 of Figure 4 is
stored in the capacity buffer 17 of the terminal 2.
Then, an available memory capacity of the storage
section 16 of the terminal 2 is detected and stored in
the volume adding section 32 as an initial value of the
available memory capacity of the storage section 16
(S42).
Then, the priority is set (S43). More specifically,
of all the priorities assigned to the mails stored in the
storage section 16, the priority generating section 35
generates the lowest priority and outputs the same to the
matching detecting section 31. Upon receipt of the
lowest priority, the matching detecting section 31 sets
the same as an initial value of the priority, with which
the matching detection is carried out. Here, a value "0"
representing the lowest priority is set followed by
values "3", "2", and "1" in order of ascending priorities
based on the precedence. Thus, the priority generating
section 35 generates the lowest priority "0", and sets
the same to the matching detecting section 31 as the
initial priority value, with which the matching detection
is carried out.
Subsequently, a mail held in the storage section 16
of the terminal 2 is retrieved (S44). More specifically,
a mail held in the storage section 16 of the terminal 2
is retrieved by means of the address section 27.
Then, whether protect flag of the retrieved mail is
set to "1" or not is judged (S45). In other words,
whether the mail retrieved in S44 is a mail which is
prohibited from being saved or not is judged based on the
state of the protect flag stored in the protect flag
section 16a. More specifically, the protect flag of the
retrieved mail is outputted to the second gate 29 from
the protect flag section 16a of the storage section 16 as
the gate opening command signal. Thus, the state of the
protect flag is reflected on the state of the second gate
29.
If the protect flag is set to "1" in S45 (YES), the
flow skips to S55, because the saving of the mail is
prohibited.
On the other hand, if the protect flag is not set to
"1" in S45 (NO), whether the priorities match with each
other or not is judged (S46), because the saving of the
mail is allowed.
In S46, whether the currently set priority matches
with the priority assigned to the retrieved mail in S44
is judged by the matching detecting section 31. Then, if
the priorities do not match with each other (NO), the
flow skips to S55.
When it is judged that the priorities match with
each other in S46 (YES), the mail is sent to the host
computer 1 to be saved therein (S47).
Subsequently, the mails judged as should be saved to
the host computer 1 in S46 are sent and erased in the
following manner. Also, the titles of these mails are
extracted and stored in the following manner.
In S47, the retrieved mail is sent to the host
computer 1. In other words, when it is judged that the
priorities match with each other, the matching detecting
section 31 outputs the gate opening command signal and
the first gate 28 is opened, whereby the mail being
accessed by the address section 27 is sent to the host
computer 1.
Subsequently, the title of the mail to be sent to
the host computer 1 is extracted (S48), and the extracted
title is stored in the title listing section 37 of the
terminal 2 (S49).
In other words, the mail to be sent to the host
computer 1 is also inputted to the title extracting
section 36 in S48. The title extracted by the title
extracting section 36 is outputted to the title listing
section 37.
In S49, the title of the mail extracted by the title
extracting section 36 is stored in the title listing
section 37. Thus, the user can confirm the mail
information of the mails saved to the host computer 1
from the terminal 2 by checking a display of the content
of the title listing section 37.
Then, the mail sent to the host computer 1 is erased
from the storage section 16 of the terminal 2 (S50).
Consequently, the mail is saved and a new storage space
is secured in the storage section 16.
Then, an available memory capacity of the storage
section 16 of the terminal 2 thus secured is added up to
the current available memory capacity (S51), and the
available memory capacity thus found is compared with a
total volume of the mails which was received in S41 and
will be sent from the host computer 1 (S52).
In other words, in S51, a volume of the mail judged
as should be saved to the host computer 1 in S46 is added
up to the available memory capacity of the storage
section 16. More specifically, upon detecting the
matching of the priorities, the matching detecting
section 31 outputs the gate opening command signal and
the third gate 30 is opened, whereby a volume of the mail
being accessed by the address section 27 is added up by
the volume adding section 32. Consequently, the volume
of the mail judged as should be saved in S64 is added to
the available memory capacity of the storage section 16.
In S52, the available memory capacity thus found is
compared with a total volume of the new mails in the host
computer 1. More specifically, the judging section 33
compares a total volume of the new mails in the host
computer 1 retained in the capacity buffer 17 with the
available memory capacity of the storage section 16
computed by the volume adding section 32 by adding up the
volumes of the mails saved in the host computer 1.
Then, the terminal 2 judges whether all the mails to
be sent from the host computer 1 can be received or not
based on the result in S52 (S53). Here, when it is
judged that all the new mails can be received (YES), the
terminal 2 receives all the new mails from the host
computer 1 (S54).
On the other hand, when it is judged that not all
the mails to be sent from the host computer 1 can be
received in S53 (NO), whether all the mails have been
retrieved or not is judged (S55). Here, whether all the
mails having the same priority are retrieved or not is
judged. Then, when not all the mails have been retrieved
yet (NO), the flow returns to S44 and the remaining mails
are retrieved. On the other hand, when it is judged that
all the mails have been retrieved in S55 (YES), the next
priority is set (S56). Then, the flow returns to S44 and
a mail is retrieved again.
In other words, in S55, whether there is any savable
mail whose priority matches with the priority currently
set in the matching detecting section 31 is judged. When
not all the mails have been retrieved yet (NO), the flow
proceeds to S44 and a mail is retrieved to save the
savable mails assigned with the currently set priority.
On the other hand, when all the mails have been retrieved
in S55 (YES), the flow proceeds to S56, because there is
no savable mail assigned with the currently set priority.
In S56, the next priority is set. Then, the flow
returns to S44 and a mail is retrieved again. More
specifically, when all the savable mails having the same
priority as the one set in the matching detecting section
31 have been saved and all the mails have been retrieved,
the judging section 33 outputs a signal to the priority
generating section 35. Upon receipt of the signal from
the judging section 33, the priority generating section
35 generates the priority next lowest to the one
currently set in the matching detecting section 31, and
outputs the same to the matching detecting section 31.
Accordingly, the matching detecting section 31 updates
the currently set priority with the newly generated
priority. For example, if "0" is currently set in the
matching detecting section 31, "0" is updated with "3".
In contrast, when the terminal 2 judges that it can
receive all the mails to be sent from the host computer
1, it starts to receive the new mails from the host
computer 1 (S54). In other words, when a total volume of
the new mails in the host computer 1 is smaller than the
available memory capacity of the storage section 16 of
the terminal 2, no more mails has to be saved. Thus, the
terminal 2 starts to receive the mails from the host
computer 1, and stores the same in the storage space
secured in the storage section 16.
Here, S47-S49 are the actions taken by terminal's
first internal control means; S45 is the action taken by
terminal's second internal control means; S47 is the
action taken by host computer's fourth internal control
means; and S50-S54 are the actions taken by host
computer's fifth internal control means.
As has been explained, since the terminal 2 is
arranged to save the mails stored in its storage section
16 in order of ascending priorities to the host computer
1 in response to a total volume of the mails to be sent
from the host computer 1, the terminal 2 can receive all
the new mails. Moreover, since the titles of the saved
mails are left, the user can readily confirm which mails
have been saved.
Programs to execute the jobs carried out in the
above-arranged e-mail sending/receiving system are stored
in a program medium as an information recording medium
separable from the main body of the apparatus, such as a
CD-ROM, a floppy disk, and an IC card.
As shown in Figure 6, a program medium 51 stores
programs for carrying out the operations in the above-arranged
e-mail sending/receiving system: a connection
program 51a, an extraction program 51b, a sending program
51c, a capacity detecting program 51d, a judging program
51e, and a saving program 51f.
More precisely, the connection program 51a is a
program for establishing a connection between the host
computer 1 and terminal 2.
The extraction program 51b is a program for
extracting mails in order of priorities assigned to the
mails.
The sending program 51c is a program for
sequentially sending the mails extracted by the
extraction program 51b to the terminal 2 connected to the
host computer 1.
The capacity detecting program 51d is a program for
detecting an available memory capacity of the terminal 2.
The judging program 51e is a program for judging
whether the mails can be stored into the storage section
16 of the terminal 2 whose available memory capacity is
detected by the capacity detecting program 51d.
The saving program 51f is a program for selectively
saving the storage content of the storage section 16 of
the terminal 2 to the host computer 1.
As has been explained, the program medium 51 stores
various kinds of programs to be stored in the host
computer 1 and terminal 2. These various kinds of
programs are stored in an unillustrated program storage
area in one of the storage section 6 of the host computer
1 and the storage section 16 of the terminal 2, and
retrieved and executed by the control device 18 or 38.
As has been explained, an e-mail sending/receiving
system of the present invention is characterized in that
a first control means compares a volume of mails to be
sent from a host computer with an available memory
capacity of a second storage section of a terminal where
the mails sent from the host computer are stored, and
consequently sends the mails to the second storage
section up to its full memory capacity.
According to the above arrangement, when a volume of
the mails to be sent form the host computer to the
terminal exceeds a current available memory capacity of
the second storage section of the terminal, that is, when
it is judged that not all the mails to be sent to the
terminal can be stored in the second storage section, the
mails are stored in the second storage section in order
of descending priorities to the user of the terminal up
to the current available memory capacity of the second
storage section.
Consequently, the user can read the mails in order
of descending priorities to him only by reading the mails
stored in the second storage section of the terminal in
order of storage. In other words, the user can read the
mails with higher priorities to the user, that is, urgent
or important mails, with the precedence without searching
such mails from all the received mails only by reading
the mails stored in the second storage section in order
of storage.
Moreover, even when the terminal does not have an
available memory capacity sufficient to store all the
coming mails, the user can receive the mails assigned
with higher priorities only if the available memory
capacity is large enough to store these mails assigned
with higher priorities. Consequently, the user does not
have to manage the system each time the user receives the
mail(s), thereby making the system management easier.
There can be also provided an e-mail
sending/receiving method suitably used for the above-arranged
e-mail sending/receiving system and a recording
medium having thereon recorded the method.
More specifically, as has been explained, an e-mail
sending/receiving method of the present invention is
characterized by comprising:
a first step of comparing a volume of mails to be
sent from a host computer with an available memory
capacity of a second storage section of a terminal where
the mails sent from the host computer are stored; and a second step of sending the mails to the terminal
up to a full memory capacity of the second storage
section.
Also, as has been explained, a recording medium of
the present invention which can be read by a computer is
characterized by having recorded thereon:
a first step of comparing a volume of mails to be
sent from a host computer with an available memory
capacity of a second storage section of a terminal where
the mails sent from the host computer are stored; and a second step of sending the mails to the terminal
up to a full memory capacity of the second storage
section.
As has been explained, the e-mail sending/receiving
system of the present invention may be arranged in such
a manner that the terminal includes:
a second storage section for storing the mails sent
from the host computer; and second control means for comparing a volume of the
mails to be sent from the host computer with an available
memory capacity of the second storage section, and when
it turns out that the available memory capacity is short,
for sending back the mails having been stored in the
second storage section to the host computer in a volume
corresponding to a shortage of the available memory
capacity, and subsequently erasing the mails sent back to
the host computer from the second storage section, and that the host computer stores the mails sent
back from the terminal in the first storage section.
According to the above arrangement, even when the
available memory capacity of the second storage section
of the terminal is smaller than a volume of the mails
stored in the first storage section of the host computer
to be sent to the terminal, new mails can be stored in
the second storage section. Thus, the user can receive
the mails without worrying about the available memory
capacity of the second storage section.
Also, there can be provided an e-mail
sending/receiving method suitably used for the above e-mail
sending/receiving system and a recording medium
having thereon recorded the method.
That is, an e-mail sending/receiving method of the
present invention is characterized by comprising:
a first step of comparing a volume of the mails to
be sent from the host computer with an available memory
capacity of a second storage section of the terminal
where the mails sent from the host computer are stored; a second step of, when it turns out that the
available memory capacity is short, extracting the mails
having been stored in the second storage section in a
volume corresponding to a shortage of the available
memory capacity in accordance with the priorities
assigned to the mails; a third step of sending back the mails extracted in
the second step to the host computer to be stored in the
first storage section; and a fourth step of erasing the mails sent back and
stored in the first storage section in the third step
from the second storage section.
Also, the recording medium of the present invention
is characterized by having recorded thereon:
a first step of comparing a volume of the mails to
be sent from the host computer with an available memory
capacity of a second storage section of the terminal
where the mails sent from the host computer are stored; a second step of, when it turns out that the
available memory capacity is short, extracting the mails
having been stored in the second storage section in a
volume corresponding to a shortage in accordance with the
priorities assigned to the mails; a third step of sending back the mails extracted in
the second step to the host computer to be stored in the
first storage section; and a fourth step of erasing the mails sent back and
stored in the first storage section in the third step
from the second storage section.
Also, as has been explained, the e-mail
sending/receiving system of the present invention may be
arranged in such a manner that the second control means
extracts list information from the mails which will be
sent back to the host computer and subsequently erased
from the second storage section, and consequently stores
the list information into list information storing means.
According to the above arrangement, since the list
of the saved mail is created and displayed, the user of
the terminal can readily confirm which mails have been
saved by checking the list. In other words, the user can
readily manage the mails.
Accordingly, the above e-mail sending/receiving
method and the recording medium having thereon recorded
the method may be arranged in the following manner.
That is, the e-mail sending/receiving method of the
present invention may be arranged in such a manner to
further comprise:
a fifth step of extracting list information from the
mails which will be sent back to the host computer and
subsequently erased from the second storage section; and a sixth step of storing the list information
extracted.
Also, the recording medium of the present invention
may be arranged in such a manner further to have recorded
thereon:
a fifth step of extracting list information of the
mails which will be sent back to the host computer and
subsequently erased from the second storage section; and a sixth step of storing the list information
extracted.
As has been explained, the e-mail sending/receiving
system of the present invention may be arranged in such
a manner that the first control means extracts the mails
assigned with the priorities at or above a particular
level as the mails to be sent from the host computer to
the terminal.
According to the above arrangement, when the
available memory capacity of the second storage section
of the terminal is smaller than a volume of the mails
stored in the first storage section of the host computer,
the mails having stored in the second storage section are
saved in a volume necessary to store the mails assigned
with the priorities at or above a particular level of all
the priorities assigned to all the mails stored in the
first storage section of the host computer. Thus, a
volume of the mails saved from the second storage section
can be minimized. Consequently, a memory capacity of the
second storage section can be utilized efficiently.
Accordingly, the above e-mail sending/receiving
method and the recording medium having thereon recorded
the method may be arranged in the following manner.
That is, the e-mail sending/receiving method of the
present invention may be arranged in such a manner that
the first step includes a sub-step of extracting the
mails assigned with the priorities at or above a
particular level as the mails to be sent from the host
computer to the terminal.
Also, the recording medium of the present invention
may be arranged to have recorded, in the first step, a
sub-step of extracting the mails assigned with the
priorities at or above a particular level as the mails to
be sent from the host computer to the terminal.
Furthermore, as has been explained, the e-mail
sending/receiving system of the present invention may be
arranged in such a manner that the second control means
extracts the mails which will be sent back to the host
computer and subsequently erased from the mails to which
saving is allowed.
According to the above arrangement, since the means
for prohibiting the saving of particular mails among
those stored in the second storage section to the first
storage section is provided, even when the available
memory capacity of the second storage section of the
terminal is smaller than the volume of the mails stored
in the first storage section of the host computer,
particular mails, for example, mails the user wishes to
see immediately or important mails, are not saved to the
first storage section from the second storage section.
Consequently, the possibility of saving the mails
the user has to read immediately can be eliminated,
thereby eliminating a troublesome job, such as
manipulation for searching the necessary mails from the
host computer and restoring the same in the terminal.
Accordingly, the above e-mail sending/receiving
method and the recording medium having thereon recorded
the method may be arranged in the following manner.
That is, the e-mail sending/receiving method of the
present invention may be arranged in such a manner that
the second step includes a sub-step of extracting the
mails which will be sent back to the host computer and
subsequently erased from the second storage section from
the mails to which saving is allowed.
Also, the recording medium of the present invention
may be arranged to have recorded, in the second step, a
sub-step of extracting the mails which will be sent back
to the host computer and subsequently erased from the
second storage section from the mails to which saving is
allowed.
The invention being thus described, it will be
obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such
variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the
spirit and scope of the invention, and all such
modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the
art are intended to be included within the scope of the
following claims.